Persona 3: Dual Cards (Placeholder Title)
by LucythePir8
Summary: Minato and Hamuko come back to their hometown just to finish school, instead they are forced to help a group of teens looking to end the phenomena that has haunted their lives for the past decade
1. Chapter 1

"We are so sorry for the delays. We will be arriving in Iwatodai very shortly." Said the conductor as everyone grimaced.

A sigh came from a Minato

He was stuck in the train late at night after so many delays. He still had his classic blue headphones on, listening to Burn My Dread which would distract him from the pure boredom. The regal blue hair covering one of his eyes made him look emo but he didn't care. Nothing was interesting the whole day.

He thought coming back to the city where his parents died ten years ago would've been cool. All the mysteries and murders would've been fun to investigate but he had to go to a dumb dorm and meet up with a Kijiro highschool girl.

He had no information whatsoever besides her name, Mitsuru Kijiro. For some reason, they decided to send him to a housing facility the day before classes started.

Barely any passengers caught Minato's eyes except a red-haired girl across from him that also had a pair of headphones except that they were red.

She bore crimson eyes and was happily listening to her music. Her outfit consisted of a school uniform with a red ribbon and a short, black skirt. She was staring out of the window and had a long ponytail that extended to her back. The rogue lipstick looked glossy on her soft lips.

Minato was a bit too interested and was staring at her. _"She seems familiar."_ He thought in his head and started to notice more and more about her. She also was wearing the Gekkoukan High School uniform just like he was, besides the skirt and bow tie.

He couldn't stop gazing at her. The most fascinating part about her was her rose-colored hair. Even including four pins that were holding her ponytail on. The four pins were in roman numeral form, two Xs and two Is. He wondered why she had them and he always loved mysteries.

The assumed emo hadn't had the much experience with girls but he learned a lot from his grandfather who hit on anything that moved. Needless to say, he knew exactly what to say.

The gir turned around and still had the glowing smile on her face when noticing the cute boy staring at her, right while skipping towards Minato. Being a little nervous and worried that she would smack him or call the teenager a pervert, he took off his headphones.

Talking to the girl was his goal as soon as she sat down.

"Like what you saw?" The girl said in a playful tone while she took his headphones off. "Heh, this should be fun." Minato thought in his head.

His expression softened and answered by whispering to her ear "It's not everyday that you meet the most beautiful girl in the world."

She blushed a bit before saying "I bet you say that to all the girls" and turned her head away.

He still had his warm smile and it made her come back to his blue orbs when their eyes met. They both turned away from each other when a blush appeared on their faces.

"So, how long have you been living here?" She asked trying to break the awkward tension.

"Actually, I'm new. I've been living in Inaba with my grandfather. I used to live here about ten years ago. Main reason I came back was to see my parents. They uh, died when I was 6."

"Did they die on Moonlight bridge?" She asked with a concerned face.

"Yup. How did you know?" Minato inquired. Her face lost the gorgeous smile and her lips curled into a frown.

"The same happened to me." She said before gazing out the window. Her eyes felt a little wet. Both were wondering if their parents crashed into each other.

"Do you remember it?" He asked. She shook her head. "No, can't even recall their faces. Kinda frightening actually." she said with a nervous chuckle.

Eventually starting to be sad, the boy wanted to snap her out of it by asking

"So, are you also going to Gekkoukan High?"

"Yeah I am! But thanks to this delay, my senpai's are gonna yell at me when I arrive at my dorm late." Minato perked up at her last statement before taking a piece of paper.

"Wait, is it the same address as this?" He said pointing to the paper. The redhead leaned in and read the paper. She examined it and then exclaimed "We're gonna be living right next to each other!"

She then started to calm down and had a look of worry.

A street thug gave a creepy grin to her so she wouldn't be surprised if she felt a little weird.

Creepily staring at his new dorm mate, the supposed thug was going to attack them and he knew when it was coming.

People had tried to rob him all the time and assumed he was rich. He was financially stable since his grandfather was a notorious detective. They also called him a "pretty boy" which startled him, considering that all of his muggers were male.

Since the thug was going to attack any second, Minato put a hand near his pistol. He didn't exactly care for most people, especially if they were dangerous.

The girl got a little bit closer to Minato and was almost directly touching him. He was fun to be around, but she kept telling herself "Anything to get away from that creep across from us!".

A smirk was on his face as he checked the time on his phone was 11:58.

It was going to be witch time. He was a little sad that he had an hour to do nothing and that his headphones weren't going to work.

Minato had first discovered the additional hour when he was eight and heard noises. He started to reminisce about it.

 _A young blue-haired boy in pajamas was snoozing in his bed before being awakened by another bluenet in a cap with long hair and was holding a stuffed bear. The one in bed and wrapped in blankets finally got out of the drouse only to see his younger sister petrified with fear._

" _Can I have five more minutes Naoto?" He asked sleepily. Naoto then began to shake him._

" _There's weird noises downstairs and I'm scared to go get water! Please big brother! Grandfather is still on a case and I don't want to ask the assistants."_

" _Ugh fine." Opening the door, he could see the hallway. Through the panes, was a freaky green color instead of the normal blue in the sky._

 _But he thought it was just his imagination. "Being up this late and my drowsiness is probably the cause of this" he thought to himself while running down the stairs._

 _Getting the water and then sleeping were the only things he wanted to do. Unknown to him, there was a more vicious cause of all these weird events. The dead giveaway that this wasn't normal was what he saw when he opened his refrigerator, only to find it non-functionable. No lights but Minato always carried a lighter with him and got a glance._

 _The foods didn't look that different and everything looked fine. Until, he looked to the corner of the fridge and found his target, water. But, the jug of water was filled with some dark liquid._

 _Even the water bottles in there were a blood red. Even juices that contained a little bit of water had a red tint._

" _What the fuck!" He screamed. He tried to sprint back upstairs but the doors closed in his kitchen. There was no escape besides the door but that didn't stop him from looking for a place to hide._

 _ **Scratch.. Scratchhhhhh.**_ _Loud noises came from the fridge. It became louder and more frequent. Needless to say, Minato was about to cry. Before he could, some creature popped out from behind it. Minato remembered that he somehow killed it but didn't know how he pulled it off._

 _Only recalling that the time was stuck at 12 o'clock. He tried to go to the servants' rooms but they were all coffins._

 _From then on, he made sure than Naoto didn't leave without him late at night. If his little sister got hurt because of him, he wouldn't know how he could live with himself. He tried to figure out more and more._

 _One time, he went with his grandfather on a case and then it became midnight. It seemed the blue-haired siblings were the only ones that didn't turn into coffined beings._

 _The only theory he could come with was that it was because their parents died when they were so young and it was depression. He remembered using that time to practice his marksmanship or sword play. About a year ago, he told his grandfather and he reacted by telling him he was crazy._

 _The weird part was that his grandfather made a phone call to someone that had supposedly knew what was happening and offered to bring Minato to a new school. That was how Minato came to the school._

"Good times." He thought as he looked at his watch. Only five seconds remained until twelve o'clock.

"Well my name's Hamuko Yuki. Since we're gonna be living right near each other, we should be friends!"

' **5'** The red-haired student said with a smile that made the supposed emo's feel weird.

' **4'** "It's Minato Aragami and we're friends already." He added before smiling at her, which was a rare for him.

' **3'** The doors opened and the pair were about to leave together but just then, the creepy delinquent got up and tried to run towards them. **'2'**

Hamuko didn't react fast enough while the boy next to her punched the approaching attacker. Her eyes could barely process what happened before **'1'** , time stopped.

Minato looked around and saw everyone turn to coffins, even the punk that was about to attack Hamuko became a coffin. He was sad and about to walk until he saw that the red-head wasn't affected by the odd time.

"Hey, you're not a coffin!" the two said simultaneously.

"At least we won't have anyone interrupt our walk." she said bubbly.

"Yeah, the monsters are still roaming around here so we should be careful." He said with a bit of anxiety in his voice. Being outside at this time was a terrible decision

They made basic conversation and talked about some of the changes in the weird He usually wasn't such a talker but this girl felt different. The redhead would be his first friend aside from his family.

They eventually reached the dorm and it was a massive building compared to the others. On one small edge of the structure, it read S.E.E.S and had an odd logo near it.

"This is the place right?" Minato asked unsure if they were at the right place. It looked more like an army base than any sort of school establishment.

"Yup, this should be the place." She said giddily. Lights were out in the building but the door was open.

The couple entered and saw a small desk with a sign in sheet and a coffee table right near. No people were present as if it had been deserted. There were stairs but they decided to sign in and find the dorm mother or anyone that ran the building.

"Oh you two finally arrived." said a young boy. The two turned around to see a kid that was around 7-8 and had purple hair.

Red and blue striped pajamas were all that he was wearing. He was somehow sitting at the coffee table but he was not there when they first looked.

His turquoise eyes were almost the complete opposite of Minato's deep silver ones. He had a piece of paper in one of his hands.

"Sign this please." He said offering a piece of paper that had two name slots ready. Hamuko looked ecstatic and wrote her name on the right.

"Why would you write it so quickly?" Minato asked, curious to know if she actually read it that fast.

"No way! Who in the world actually reads those long contracts? I was always just click agree and get on with my life." She said sheepishly

The supposed emo facepalmed. "Be mature and read it." He said causing the redhead to pout. "Could you just give me a summary please?" She said with puppy dog eyes.

"Must resist temptations!" He repeated in his head before realizing how adorable she was. The cutest smile and the most amazing hair only added onto her request. "Alright fine."

He took a brief glance. Most of it was filler crap that he learned to disregard entirely

"So what did it say?" She asked.

"This says that we have to take responsibility for all our actions." Minato replied nonchalantly. Signing the paper, he saw the boy thrilled.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." said the boy before disappearing into literal thin air.

The two were left, confused on how he did that but couldn't ponder on it for too long. One of the lights turned on from upstairs and someone emerged from the shadows.

"Hey, who are you?" A girl in a pink cardigan and brown hair said as she came down the stairs. Her hands were on a pistol that Minato couldn't recognize and assumed it was a fake. Her hands were shaky and she seemed to be scared even though she had the weapon.

Minato pulled out his colt and pointed it at the girl.

"Holy crap, why do you have guns!" Hamuko yelled. The unknown girl pointed it at Minato. But, he responded by putting his revolver down and kicking it towards her as a signal of peace.

It was to no avail as the girl was about to pull the trigger. He had seen what nervous people could do when they were pressured and he immediately pushed Hamuko behind him. He would at least help someone in his life.

Thankfully, another girl stopped her and turned the other lights on.

"What are you doing Takeba? These are the transfer students. I just didn't expect them to be this late." said an older student than us. She wore a similar outfit to Hamuko and had darker red hair than her.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Minato Arisato and Hamuko Yuki. I'm Mitsuru Kijiro and the girl in the pink is Yukari Takeba. She's going to be a junior like you two tomorrow."

"Hmm, so that's the girl I was supposed to meet. I should probably thank her for saving us." Minato thought before taking a breath of relief.

"You two should go to your rooms and we'll explain everything tomorrow." She said as the transfers were lead upstair by Yukari.

"I'm sorry about that." She said sheepishly but was met with a glare from Minato. Hamuko forgave her and He still had a bit of resentment towards from almost being shot.

"Umm anyways don't lose your keys and try not to get attached to the rooms." Handing them the keys, Yukari went to go downstairs but Hamuko stopped her.

"Hey, does the little boy in with blue hair and a prison outfit live here?"

"What little boy?" She asked while her skin turned a bit pale. The other exchanged a look before saying "Never mind."

"Okay?" Yukari said before leaving.

"You think we're psychopaths or something?

"We might Hamuko, but I doubt you would be one. You're too upbeat and nice to be considered one."

"Aww thanks! But it's getting late, so good night Minato-chan!

"Good night." he said as he entered his room.

 _The next day_

Hamako was excited! She couldn't wait to go to school and meet all the other students. Waking up early at six A.M, the young teenager decided to make breakfast.

There was a small fridge that barely had any ingredients besides vegetables, milk, eggs and a bunch of protein powder. Omelets were the only possible things she could make for the other three in the dorm. She put her headphones on and got to work. Her favorite song, "Burn my Dread" really made time fly by.

After a rigorous attempt to cook, Hamuko finally put four bowls down with their own omelets in them. The first to come down was Minato, much to her delight.

He seemed pretty sleepy and groggy but became normal when sitting down to eat.

"Wow, it tastes great! Where did you learn to cook?" He asked while devouring the omelet.

"Learned it myself! I didn't really have anyone to teach me since my aunt was working all the time." She said with a small frown remembering her childhood.

Minato gave her a caring glance and said "Wow, guess our lives are a lot similar than I thought." Quickly, she regained her normal attitude and began to eat. To her surprise, it was great.

"You think you could teach me sometime?"

"Sure! I wouldn't mind but can you teach me how to shoot? I felt kinda out of place at that gun show last night." The two chuckled until they were interrupted by a scowl that came from none other Yukari.

"You two dating or something?" She said but with a hint of some emotion that neither could detect. "NOO!" Hamuko replied a bit too fast before having a shard of red on her face as she offered food to Yukari. She politely declined and had cereal instead. They enjoyed the blissful silence until the brunette got a book bag and walked out the door.

"By the way, Mitsuru-senpai asked me to lead you two to school since you're new. So, get your things ready and let's head off."

Hamako didn't notice the cold stare radiating off Minato towards the other girl. The two soon cleaned up their dishes and put the other two plates in the fridge, for later usage.

The walk was fairly boring as Yukari kept going on and on about the history of the school and the teachers. She mentioned something about a Kijiro group and how Mitsuru was not trustworthy but neither cared to make any comments.

The scenery was beautiful and the train wasn't delayed for once causing a sigh of relief from the red-head. They exited and finally had to walk a bit to reach the school.

Hamuko was distracted when she saw a red butterfly fly around her and land on her wrist. The same happened to Minato except it was blue. The two both gave each other a look that read " _This is weird."_

When they were reached the school entrance, it read **Gekkoukan High School** and many of the student were outside. Most of the chatter was gossip which the whole party decided to ignore. Yukari commanded the two to go to the faculty office and find out their homeroom.

As they entered the office, a teacher in her early-twenties greeted them

"You must be the transfers I've been hearing about! Hmm let's take a look at your profile. I haven't the chance to read it yet so I'll read it outloud and correct me if I'm wrong." Hamuko rolled her eyes while Minato just had an emotionless expression.

"Well, you two both got a full scholarship to your hometown after living in different cities! Wow, you two must be brilliant. Our school has very high expectations and it seems you two aced the introductory exams! It also says that you had to leave Iwatodai because your parents…."

"We're used to this. Can you just tell us our homeroom and save us this repetition?" Minato asked with the other student nodding her head. "2-F" She said before taking a spoon of cake in her mouth.

"I'm the teacher there but there's a speech by the principle in the auditorium." Pointing at the big door right next to them.

"Thanks back there. I really hate being reminded of the event and the reactions especially." The girl said as she dragged the half-asleep boy to the stands. The principle was giving a speech about the importance of the school's pride that everyone tuned out.

Minato was sitting right behind the red-head and noticed that she was about to take a nap. About to do the same, he began to close his eyes until "Hey there buddy!" came from a boy next to him.

He turned his head to see a teenager around his age with a baseball cap and a goatee. His black blazer covered a blue dress shirt and had a mischievous some reason, Minato wanted to punch him but he didn't know why. "Sup I'm Junpei Iori, certified babe magnet. From the way I hear, you could be my new protege! The rumor was that you scored with Yukari! Is it true? It has to be, right?"

Minato gave a confused look at the last part and corrected him "That's not true, we just met yesterday and she was going to blow my head off. She just walked me to school, nothing more."

Junpei was surprised at that and exclaimed "You walked with the most popular junior and didn't even make a move! Dude, what's wrong with you? Oh now I get it. You've got your eyes on someone! You already got the badass vibe around you and the whole 'I'm so dark and edgy' thing too! Damn, you could get any girl you want if you took a lesson from me,"

Minato listened to him rant about girls and about how Junpei deserved all of them while he just nodded, waiting for the principal's worthless spiel about the future to end.

"Oh by the way. Is Yuka-tan dating anyone?" Minato shrugged at the question, not caring. "Hey I hear someone from Ms. Toriumi's class talking."

A teacher said into the mic causing the aforementioned teacher to glare at the bluenet and baseball capped students. It was annoying to the "Chick magnets" or whatever Junpei called themselves, considering almost everyone was talking through the horrible speech.

Eventually, Mitsuru came up and was about to give a speech. Hamuko was still fast asleep until tapped her.

"It's senpai's speech time." he told her. "Five more minutes…." She said while leaning back on him.

Pop! Hamuko felt a sudden pain in her forehead as she saw that Minato had just flicked her. It woke her up but made her glare at the torturer ( In her eyes).

"Oww! Meanie.." She said while massaging her temples. Senpai was about to give a speech and started to sit formally.

"Good evening everyone. My name is Mitsuru Kijiro and I'm a second year. This school year can only be a successful one if all the students give their maximum efforts. Gekkoukan High School has had several monumental accomplishments and it wouldn't possible without our fellow peers. So, I ask that all of you take school work seriously as we approach graduation day. Thank you very much for your time."

Claps filled the auditorium as cheers started to erupt. Chants of "Mitsuru!" and compliments about her also surfaced.

After the pep rally, the students returned to their homerooms for a short break.

They had a solid hour of sleep was what Minato had hoped for but that same boy from the pep rally was there.

"Hey there Minato! Just wanted to see how you were doing best buddy? I was a transfer student last year and just wanted to say I know how hard it is to adjust. Wow, I'm such a nice guy!"

Yukari walked up to the pair, dragging Hamuko alongside her. Junpei greeted them.

"Hiya Yuka-tan! Oh and you're Minato's girlfriend! Heh, no wonder he picked you over Yuka-tan, you're hotter." He said pointing to the redhead. The goateed kid was met with a smack, punch to the arm and a kick to the shin by the three.

"You guys are so rude." He said while rubbing his injuries. The emo looking kid was surprisingly strong and so was the other girl.

"For the last time, Hamuko and I aren't dating. Also, who spread all these annoying rumor? It's probably you Junpei since you love having attention." The bluenet said, mildly annoyed at it.

"Yeah, what's wrong with you Stupei anyways? It was probably you and it's not a wonder why you don't have a girlfriend." Yukari said.

" I wouldn't be surprised if that crappy goatee made everyone cringe." Hamuko added on.

The "babe magnet" was a little hurt at the ganging up on him but payed it no mind while he began to talk to his other classmates.

"Hey you didn't tell anyone about last night?" Yukari asked in a whisper to Minato which he shook his head no to.

"Good, don't tell anyone about it." Unfortunately, Junpei had heard and started to run out of homeroom.

"Why did you have to phrase it like that?" he asked, knowing what Junpei would do with that misleading conversation.

"What? I just said not to mention anything that happened last night! Oh wait…." Hamuko laughed for what seemed to be a long time while Minato just put his head down.

"Tch, whatever. I have archery practice so I'll see you two later." With that Yukari left, leaving the pair wondering how their first day turned out like this.

The rest of the day was filled with people bowing to the bluenet and boys hitting on the redhead all thanks to Junpei. Anyone who had even mentioned either of them were met with icy glares.

"Minato Arisato and Hamuko Yuki. Please report to the student council room." An announcement from the speakers came. The boy sighed while the girl got up and started to walk there.

"Well at least she's excited about it." he thought in his head as she saw her bounce wall to wall.

She seemed to be loving today despite the weird guys that kept trying to ask her out which she politely declined. "So um I guess you and Yukari didn't do anything like the rumors suggested?" She asked unsure. Minato didn't seem like the type to take advantages of girls but she had no idea what Yukari did on her own free time.

"Nope, not really interested in girls." It was silent for a bit before he realized what he just said. Some of the guys were staring at him with a passion before he quickly corrected himself. "Wait I mean I love girls! They're the best part of the world and I think they're hot! Ugh what's wrong with me."

She laughed at his outburst before saying

"Don't worry, I can tell you're not into guys." Minato was relieved when hearing that.

"I mean I see the way you look at Yukari and I!" She finished with a mischievous grin.

He put his head down in shame and she lead him down the way. Attempting to navigate the hallways was easier since she got a school map. It was fun since she could make him walk into lockers with him not looking up.

The pair heard lots of "details". Some of them included Mitsuru-senpai when everyone found out they all lived in the same dorm. Even some guy named Akikho was involved since he lived in the same dorm. The aforementioned guy also had a group of fangirls glaring at the red-brunette.

Arriving at the Student Council room, they saw Mitsuru waiting there with some other students. "Ahh good to see you've arrived Arisato and Yuki. I've made arrangements for you two to join student council." She said. Minato shrugged while Hamuko happily agreed.

"Tre's Bien! I've been struggling with all this paperwork and attention. Minato, you seem to be experienced with stalkers and I need help finding the culprits of these scandalous notes." Pointing to a mass of letters that all made Minato cringe.

Heart shaped letters all declaring love for Mitsuru filled the table. The bluenet cringed and asked "Am I allowed to initiate a fight since they were harassing you?"

Mitsuru happily replied "You can do whatever you want to those students. None of them seem relevant and I'm sure my father could hide some facts about what happened."

The two shared a maniacal laugh before the other red-head broke it up. "So, um what do I have to do?

"Oh Yuki, I need your help with paperwork. Also, to pick up slack from Fushimi and Odagiri." She said while albeit glaring at a gray haired boy and a girl with long black hair.

"That's all for now. I'll see you two at the dorm. There's also someone we would like you to meet when you get there."

The two walked off to their classes with most of them being rather lackluster.

Mr. Ono was rambling on and on about samurai. Boring thoughts were the only ones that went through students mind, especially Minato and Junpei. Magically, the two would up right next to each other.

The latter was on his phone playing angry birds while the other was napping. Hamuko was just watching Minato sleep as she was right next to him, counting to see how many times she could bounce a tiny paper ball of his head.

"Iori! Are you not paying attention in my class?" The teacher boomed which shot the attention of the goateed student.

"I was paying attention!" He said putting down his phone and looked up at the teacher.

"Oh really? Then tell me this, how was the Heian Emperor related to the religion of Shinto ?" He asked looking discerningly disappointed.

"Hey Minato, psstttttt!" Junpei yelled into his ear. "He was the chief priest." Minato hazily replied, not even moving his head.

The baseball cap wearing student repeated the answer and the teacher went back to lecturing. "Thanks Minato." The goateed student said as he just slept on.

-After School-

"Hey Minato! Wanna go shopping with me?" The transfer student asked as she found the boy still sleeping. "Yeah, sure." He said.

"Great, I needed more clothes. But we should probably wait until after we meet whoever Mitsuru wanted us to see at the dorm.

This time, the walk did not involve butterflies.

As soon as the pair arrived, they spotted Yukari and a man with brown hair sitting at a coffee table. The brown haired man had a tan suit on and a pair of spectacles.

"You're back." Yukari said while picking up her cup.

"Oh so these are our new guests. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the chairman of the Board for your school. Ikutsuki is kinda hard to say, isn't it? Even I get tongue tied with it. Please, have a seat." He said with an awkward laugh at his own joke.

With Hamuko sitting next to Yukari and Minato next to her, the man continued. "I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. however, it may take a while before you receive the proper room assignment. Your current dorm mates include Yukari Takeba, Mitsuru Kijiro, Akihiko Sanada, and you two. Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

They nodded no and the man looked visibly pleased. "Perfect, now I'm sure any odd things you saw last night was from fatigue. I hope you all get along and have a successful school year!"

Ikutsuki was about to leave but he just had to make one more pun. "You must be tired from all the excitement. You should probably go to bed soon. You know what they say, the early bird catches the bookworm!"

Everyone groaned and finally the chairman left. "You'll get used to his lame jokes. But he did have good advice about going to bed early." The brunette said.

"I've got letters to decode and report for Mitsuru-senpai so I'll probably stay up a bit." Minato said before heading to his room.

"What about you Hamuko?"

"Well, I'm pretty hungry so I'm gonna search for some food and then sleep. Studying and homework can wait until tomorrow right?" She said before rushing off.

This left Yukari with no-one to talk to other than Akihiko who wasn't home and Mitsuru who was checking the cameras in each of the transfer's room. Since the other boy wasn't home yet, the pink-cardigan wearing student went to the surveillance room.

"Good evening Takeba." Mitsuru said without even looking at who came in through the door. Her eyes never left the screen as she went on. "It seems that our two new students have encountered the dark hour but do not know all the specifics."

After about three hours, it was almost time. Minato had been sleeping in his room for most of the day but now was awake. Studying and watching tv was all that they could see from the cameras. Eventually, he went up to the electronic.

"So Arisato caught on to our surveillance, not surprising. According to my father, he comes from the Shirogane family." Mitsuru said watching his movements.

He was smooth and knew exactly what he was doing when he pulled wires off. "So um are you going to punish him senpai?" She asked as the screen flickered. After about two minutes, it turned off. Leaving the two high schoolers curious into what he was doing.

"No, he was taking precautions. I would do the same if someone was spying on me. At least we can see what Yuki is up to.

Meanwhile, the two transfers were texting each other.

Minato-chan!

 _Hey_

 ** _Whatsup_**

 _There's a camera in your room_

Now Hamuko was interested. She started looking around but couldn't find it.

 ** _How do you know?_**

 _There was one in my room and I took it apart_

 ** _Can you do it for me plz_**

 _But your room is pretty far. I don't know if I'm up to the challenge._

 ** _I will make you lunch tmrw_**

 _I will be there in five minutes_

Laughing to herself on the bed, she waited patiently on her bed. _Knock knock_

"Oh Minato honey. So glad you could make it." She said in the loudest possible voice. She was still on her bed lying down.

If someone was recording this, it would look bad for the two. _"Great even more rumors."_ Minato thought.

"You know Kijiro and Takeba are hearing us right now? The chairman could also be listening." He said while walking past her.

The location of the equipment was different in her room and hard to spot in her piles of clothes. "Please clean your room Hamuko. It's like finding a needle in ten haystacks in here."

"Aww, you broke my heart Minato-chan." The red-head said while putting both her hands over her heart.

"Found it." He said while pointing to the camera. "Alright just gotta take out the screen, the blue wire and the chips."

"By the way, we're not doing anything inappropriate. It's creepy having people watch you sleep. Right Hamuko?"

"He's lying!" She said in a cheerful tone. Unfortunately, those were the last words the two teens in the surveillance room heard even as Minato tried to yell.

"This is why there are rumors about me." He said with a groan.

"Pfft, at least they're good rumors. You get paired up with the most gorgeous girl in the world, me!" She said with a pose.

"Yeah, sure. Good night."

Sharing a good bye, they ushered into their beds.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN:**_ _ **On;y six days to write this! New record! Anyways, this is kinda short compared to the last chapter. None the less, I hope you enjoy. Full AN at the bottom.**_

For some reason, Minato didn't have his usual nightmares. Instead of the car crash and people being burned to ashes, he saw a mysterious door.

" _Change is always good." he thought._ Twisting the knob revealed a large room, all covered in blue.

A chain-linked back wall displayed that the room was moving upwards just like an elevator. Magically, the bluehead was sitting in a seat across from a long-nosed individual. He looked like a monster ripped off of R.L Stine.

" _But that nose looks like Pinocchio_." He thought in his head. The Pinocchio man grimaced and he heard a soft chuckle from a female. Looking up, a beautiful girl with silver like hair and a curvy blue dress was smirking. Seeming like Snow White, he made cautiously

"Your description is very accurate." She said while looking at the long-nosed man. Well, the man was an over-estimate. He looked pretty short and he still seemed annoyed.

"Aside from that, my name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like me."

"Pleased to meet you." She said with a bow.

" _So you two can read my mind."_ He thought in his head before receiving a nod that indicated Yes.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's been years since we've had guests. Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place. Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return... that you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices that you make." Igor said while a contract that looked exactly like the one he and Hamuko signed appeared.

"Earlier, you mentioned guests. The only other person who signed the contract that day was Hamuko. Based on this, I'm guessing she's also one of the guests?" Minato asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot answer that question since it involves our guests' privacy." The long-nosed man said.

"I see. Oh well, I'll just ask her after I wake up from this dream." He said before getting up.

"I see that you are quite sharp. Eventually one of our guests should be this intelligent. Please take this key. It'll ensure that you can come here from your free will." Elizabeth said.

The key was blue and looked like what a normal key should've been shaped as and had a glossy tint to it. He shoved it in his pocket before walking out the door.

 _"Still better than the nightmares."_ He thought as the light enveloped him.

 _ **The next day,**_

"Minato-kun wake up! We have to catch the train to be on time for school!" An all too familiar brunette yelled towards the headphone wearing teen.

He sighed and got ready. It didn't take long, he just never really wanted to go to school.

" _Damn, I need to ask if anyone else had the same dream."_ Minato thought.

" _Or this key. I have a feeling that it's just me and Hamuko."_ He said checking to see if the key was in his pocket, it was. Existed out the room, the bluehead saw Yukari with the same outfit as yesterday.

"Alright good. I'm surprised with all that sleeping in school that you still need to sleep at night." She said with a chuckle but Minato just went downstairs.

"Hey, wait up!" She said trying to catch up. In the process, he sped up. From a walk, to slow jog, to full speed. It was just to see how fast she was and just some fun overall.

He was already out of the door and on the train before. Hamuko was already on the train, sitting with two boxes in her hands.

"Huh, you missed breakfast. But I made you a killer lunch so you'll be fine. Not like you actually use that energy for something important besides sleeping." Hamuko then gave him a lunch box that had dogs on it.

Minato hadn't really seen such kiddish things since he and his younger sister were mature since they were born. Cringing, he asked, "Can you keep it with you for now?"

"Are you seriously embarrassed about it? Cmon it's just some dogs." She said touching the puppies.

"Yeah they're adorable but I'd rather not carry them. Besides, I might drop it when I'm sleeping in class or something." Sitting down next to her, he saw that the train doors were about to close.

Then, two hands blocked the opening and entered the other junior that the two knew, Yukari. She was out of breath and fainted. Her usual nice clean face was drenched in sweat.

Fortunately for her, Minato caught her before the brunette reached the cold, hard ground. Hamuko also helped out by drying her up with her handkerchief.

" _I shouldn't do that anymore."_ He thought on his head. While waiting to reach their destination, they heard two overly loud girls gossiping.

"Did you hear the rumor?" Said the gossiping student.

"Oh, um... something about... a bathroom?" Her friend said uncertainly.

"N-No! Not that one! I mean the one about the first-year student! Not only did she stop coming to school, she does nothing but sits and stare at the walls all day. If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself,"It's coming... It's coming...!"

"That's weird!"

"I know right."

" _Is that what the Apathy syndrome is?"_ Minato questioned himself in his head. Hamuko wondered the same but didn't matter when they saw they were almost there.

In three minutes, they looked out the train to see a bridge. Hamuko knew that it was Moonlight Bridge but she didn't remember much.

Unlike the redhead, he remembered everything. The fire, the corpses, a monster, a robot and someone else. It would be more clear if he was on the bridge.

They finally saw their school, the weird artificial island. It was a smoldering day with the sun burning anyone not wearing light clothes.

Minato tried to wake Yukari by shaking her but that made her cling on to him even more. He had to eventually let her hold onto him until they entered their first class and put her on her desk.

Hamuko had pinched Yukari and she was up immediately. The brunette was clearly scared.

"He's gonna get me executed! Mitsuru-senpai told me to keep a close eye on him. Please don't tell her Hamuko."

"What's an execution?" The brunette shivered at the question and answered: "You don't want to know."

The school day had been fairly boring but there was one interesting moment, Junpei being asked a question by Ms. Toriumi. It had become a common habit for the goateed student and for Minato to not pay attention in classes.

"Hakushu Kitahara is great, but I think I prefer Fuyuhiko Yoshimura. His works aren't as famous, but that's what I like about him. My personal favorite is "Mangekyo. Why isn't it ever in textbooks? I'll bring it next time so you can write an essay on it. Hey, Junpei! Were you listening? Who did I say was my favorite author?"

"Psst, Minato! Help me out!" Junpei said while kicking his friend in the knee. The bluenet wasn't sleeping for once as he just seemed bored out of his mind.

He whispered "Fuyuhiko Yoshimura." which the cap wearing student repeated.

"So you were paying attention after all." Then, the teacher went back to her teaching.

"Thanks, Minato. I'll take you out to wild-duck burger after-school today. I hear 's punishment is pretty harsh and she's not exactly fond of me." He said while fixing his cap.

 _ **RING!**_ The bell had made all the students rush out the room. Yukari had to go to Archery club, Minato and Junpei had gone somewhere so Hamuko decided to head back to the dorm.

" _I didn't even get to see if Minato enjoyed the lunch I made for him."_ She said in her head head with a pout. She carried the box with her since she couldn't give it to him. Junpei dragged him out even though Minato still looked drowsy

She left him a text saying " _I'm putting your food in the fridge but help me study when u get home?"_

Deciding that today was a good evening to study for exams, she went upstairs to her room.

On her way there, she bumped into a fellow with white hair and had a confident vibe to him. He wore a red vest over the Gekkoukan High uniform.

Sweat filled his forehead and brows as he wiped them off with a rag. He picked up a bottle. The brunette guessed that it was filled with protein powder from the fridge.

"Sorry about that miss. Are you one of the two transfer students?" he asked after chugging a protein shake.

"Yup! Hamuko Yuki, nice to meet you. You're Akihiko Sanada, right?" The boy nodded a yes and went back to his room near the beginning of the hall. She then began her tedious "learning."

* * *

Junpei Iori, Ace Detective, Lady killer, Handsome devil were all names that belonged to him. As an ace detective, he never would've thought that the emo-looking kid could have such a huge appetite. He ate almost ten times what Junpei ate and was still hungry.

An empty feeling was coursing through his wallet. Regretting his offer of paying for lunch, he facepalmed. Then, he noticed a sign in the back of the room.

" _ **Wanna eat a lot and don't want to pay? Take the 10,000 yen challenge!"**_

He immediately told the waiter that they wanted to do the challenge and had a goofy grin.

Lucky for him and his wallet, the pair could consume the whole menu five times. If they could eat it, then no payment. But if not, then there would be a lot to pay off.

"Geez, how are you gonna be my pupil if you eat all this food?" He said still flabbergasted at how many items the bluenet ate.

The boy shrugged, "I can always eat this much. I never gain weight for some reason."

The brunette took off his cap and started to pray. "Please god, give me Minato's powers."

"Trust me, it's not that great. Once you've had everything, nothing tastes as good as the other ones."

"Well, whatever man. I hear you get to live with the fencing captain and boxing captain. Also Yuka-tan but she's not that great. Can anyone of them even make food?"

"Hamuko's pretty good at cooking. I still have no idea how Yukari is so popular. Do you just have to wear a pink vest and earrings?"

"I don't know dude. She must have something that makes all the guys fantasize. Well, see ya later." Junpei picked up one last burger and headed off.

Minato did the same but went the opposite direction. It was late afternoon and he barely slept at all.

Never needing to study made him a lot less stressed and calmer than most students at Gekkoukan High. His grandfather had forced him to study above college levels of academics which actually helped him out in this situation.

"Hmm, it's getting late. What time is it anyways?" He checked his phone and it was 7. His text message from Hamuko came several hours ago and he doubted that she could actually get anything done without him. He started to head back.

* * *

"I'm back." Minato announced. The sign in sheet was necessary for some reason. He signed in and saw that Mitsuru was sitting in a chair, with a book in her hand.

"You're late." The redhead said without looking up from her novel.

"I had stuff to do. Besides, as long as I checked in I'm fine." The bluenet went up the stairs but failed to notice a paper that the Kijiro heir was holding.

"Did you read the rules that were mailed to you? You have to sign in every day before the sun sets. Most of the people don't follow it because they've been here for years. At least sign in for the first weeks."

"No, I didn't check the rulers. I'll come back here right after school. Good night Mitsuru-senpai." He went to check the fridge and found the lunch Hamuko made. It came with an adorable little note that said "eat me please."

He picked it up and went to her room. A frown was visible on his face when he saw that she was asleep on one of the textbooks. At a closer glance, she was still on the first page.

There was drool coming out of her mouth, ruining the book. He smiled at the scene, it was pretty adorable.

Then, an idea popped into his head. He went right up to her face and whispered: _"Wake up sweetheart."_ The distance between their faces was incredibly small.

Hamuko was slowly waking up but she felt a bit warmer. Not caring about the reason, she accepted whatever it was. Her eyes slowly crept open and she saw a mess of blue hair. Then, a scream that could wake up the whole dorm could be heard.

"AHHH WHY ARE YOU HERE? TOO CLOSEEE! AHHH!" She shrieked.

The bluehead stepped away from her and had a sheepish smile. Yukari was the first to arrive to see the girl blushing like a tomato glaring at the boy. The brunette wore her pajamas since everyone was about to go to bed.

He had been sitting on the bed after letting go and gave a condescending smile with eyes gone to stilts. It was heavily awkward until the girl left. She told the rest it was just Hamuko's and went back to doing whatever she was doing.

"That's what you get for not studying." was all Minato said before leaving the redhead alone in her room. He started eating the lunch she made him rub some salt in her wounds.

"I swear I will kill him." She muttered to herself before going to bed. Not that she would ever say it out loud, but it was nice.

The bed felt a little uncomfortable with her velvet room key in her pocket so she put it on her counter. Igor was pretty weird and that Theodore was also odd. Regardless, she had school tomorrow and a full night's rest was important.

* * *

 _ **The following Day**_

Minato felt a little guilty about what he did yesterday so he started texting her in the morning. He still lied in bed while using his phone.

 _Hamuko Yuki_

 **Sorry about yesterday**

 _Its fine. Id watch your back if i were you_

 **On a more pressing matter, you got a key right?**

 _Whatchu mean_

 **Velvet Room.**

 _Oh, I thought i waz only one_

 **No, seems like we're destined to be**

 **guests there or something.**

 _You met big-nose man and Theo?_

 **I met Igor and Elizabeth. Who's Theodore?**

 _Uh person around our age with white hair_

 _Blue clothes, funny hat_

 **That sounds like Elizabeth.**

 **But she's a girl.**

 _Crossdressing?_

He chuckled at the text and finally got up. He went downstairs and saw that Hamuko was cooking and checking her phone at the same time.

He ate breakfast with her and the rest of the day was almost the same as yesterday. The school was boring but Minato managed to get on Mitsuru's good side by being home as soon as school ended.

Since Hamuko didn't get anything done, he actually studied with her until it was almost the special hour. Mr. Ekoda had mentioned that there was going to be testing soon and since the redhead didn't pay attention in his class, she would need all the help she could get.

The two didn't know where everyone else in the dorm was but were too occupied to do something. "Huh, it's almost time," Minato remarked looking at his phone, 11:59 P.M.

"Yeah, might as well keep at it. Let's take our last sips of water." She raised her water bottle and drank it all.

 **Meanwhile…..**

In the command room, Mitsuru, Yukari, and the Chairman were all looking at the cameras. They couldn't see the two newcomers room but still kept an eye on the hallways.

They were interrupted when a beep occurred on the panel. Mitsuru picked up the receiver and inquired: "Is that you, Akihiko?"

"You're not gonna believe this! This thing is huge! Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk... It's chasing me... I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there." Akihiko replied

"Does that mean... he's bringing that thing here!?" The junior exclaimed

"Mr. Chairman! Let's suspend our observation for now. We'll prepare for battle!" Commanded Mitsuru.

"R-Right! Be careful!" The group went to the front door and saw that Akihiko had slumped down to the floor.  
"Akihiko!"

"Aghh!" Replied the fallen senior.

"Senpai!?"

The ash-haired teen looked up with a thumbs up "I'm alright. Get ready to be surprised... It'll be here any second."

"This is no time to joke around!" Mitsuru yelled.

"It's one of them, Akihiko?" Questioned the Chairman

"Yes, but not an ordinary one-" He was interrupted by the ground suddenly shaking. Mitsuru pulled out her evoker and commanded her team.

"Mr. Chairman, please head for the command room! Takeba, go upstairs and wake them up! Then, escape out the back."

"But, what about you two?"

"We'll stop it here. You led it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."

The teen got up and started cracking his knuckles. "Like I had a choice! What are you waiting for, Yukari? Go!"

"I-I'm going!" She said running upstairs. Minato's room had no one in it so she figured that he was in Hamuko's room.

She was right and cried out "I don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here, now! Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!"

The two followed her to the door and then she handed each of them a weapon. Minato had gotten a short sword while Hamuko had gotten a Naginata.

"What are these for?" The bluehead questioned.

"We might need it. Let's hope we don't!" The brunette attempted to open the door but it was locked. Some noises started to omit from the other side which caused Yukari to jump.

"Crap, they're already here. We need to go to the rooftop."

 **AN: TA-DAH! I bet you're anxious for next chapter huh? I'll try to write more since my spring break is coming up.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay we have to go to the roof!" Yukari said as she ran up the stairs. Minato and Hamuko followed her instructions and went up four flights. They eventually reached the top, it also had a fire escape exit.

"Okay, we should be safe now." The brunette said with a sigh of relief.

The peace only lasted for a brief moment when another earthquake struck the roof. It was more severe than before.

"What the hell is happening?" Minato rhetorically asked as he grabbed onto his sword.

He had a feeling that the monsters from before would come back. It had been quite a long time since he last saw them.

" **GRAHGHHHHHH!"**

A Creepy hand popped out from the bottom of the roof. The fingers were a blood red and an ominous black.

That wasn't the main horror. The head of the creature slowly appeared with it's blue mask. It's mask was half red and had the number 1 in Roman Numerals on its forehead.

It finally revealed the whole body which was a mass of arms and limbs combined with a sword in each hand. It started sprinting towards the group of three.

"What is that!" Hamuko screamed in horror. She took a step back from what was happening and almost dropped her naginata.

"These creatures are called shadows." Yukari said.

She then pulled out her gun from her holder. But before the two transfer students could react, she put it her up to her temple.

Pulling the trigger would be the hardest thing the brunette had ever done. The fear of losing your life scared her, especially with her father's death.

The chance was gone with the monster smacking her across the face. She flew to the side of the roof, landing on the ground with a loud thud. It was obvious that she would be close to dying if she didn't roll.

"Yukari!" The bluenet cried out. He didn't know why but he rushed over to her. Her bruises were far smaller than he expected but he saw that the monster moved towards them.

Hamuko ran there and also began to see what happened.

"Watch over her, Hamuko."

Minato could tell that she was confused and scared but she still watched Yukari. He left to see if he could at least distract the shadow. His short sword sliced the monster at its mask but it only made a small dent

Yukari's gun was lying right next to her. Picking it up, a voice echoed in his head.

"Go on…" A voice commanded in his head.

* * *

Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Ikutsuki are in the control room and they see happened on the rooftop, in the monitors.

"We found them. Quick, Mitsuru we have to go help them." Akihiko said. The two seniors were about to go assist them but were stopped by the chairman.

"Wait, let's see how these events play." Ikutsuki pushed up his glasses.

* * *

Minato put his hand on the trigger and put it right next to his temple just like Yukari did. The cold steel rested on the side of his face but he had a feeling that t

The adrenaline rush was intense with blood pumping through his veins. A smile curled onto his face that could only be described as what only a maniac would have.

"Per-so-na." He vocalized what the voice in his head said. Beams of blue energy came out of him as the smoke from the gun flew in the air.

His cerulean eyes glowed brighter as a voice omitted from behind him.

"Thou art I, and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul, I cometh. I am Orpheus, master of strings…"

Orpheus was a being that had a mechanical appearance and a voice box at his abdomen. His hair was a silver white that covered his right eye, just like how Minato's hair was.

"Whoa." Hamuko admired while observing from the distance. Yukari had also seen what was happening.

"He has a persona after all." She thought in her head.

Summoning the persona had a backlash, He felt tired and had a slight headache. It only increased when a screech came out of the Master Of Strings.

 **PSHHHH!** There was a huge explosion surrounding Minato's persona. It's flames enveloped the huge shadow but made a smokescreen, blocking the view of the surveillance.

A face. Someone flashed in his eyes. They bore blue hair and had prison clothes. As soon as the boy's face disappeared, the bluenette's head felt agonizing torture. He screamed out for help but no one could do anything

Grabbing his head didn't make it much better. Unknown to him, his persona did the same. A head popped out of it, a black reaper looking, creature, was ripping apart Orpheus' body.

"What is that?" Hamuko exclaimed. A black creature that looked more like a demon than persona materialized. It's creepy white hands ripped apart the large shadow, a string of coffins that were floating above them.

The shadow was taken back but still tried to attack the black creature. The persona retaliated by pulling the mask of the shadow. After it pulled it off, the persona cuts it in half. Huge splatters came out from it.

Blood was covering almost every single inch of the place but the students were not affected. The black persona had an arm of the creature, it was burned to ashes. It showed no mercy and crushed it with its hands.

That was the last thing Minato saw before he collapsed. His black Persona reverted back to his Orpheus and disappeared.

Hamuko stepped carefully towards the fainted figure, who was now covered in blood. "Minato…." She said somberly. Feeling so useless, by not being able to help him after his cries of pain.

She put him in her arms and leaned him on her shoulder. Her top was ruined but it didn't matter. A tiny squeak was heard and she spotted another shadow. It was far away but it was easily identified as small.

The gun was still lying on the floor and she picked it up.

"What did he do again? Oh right, put it against your temple and shoot."

She mimicked it and said "Persona." Her red eyes shined but unlike how he did it, the aura around her was red

"Thou art I, and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul, I cometh. I am Eurydice, creator of light." Echoed behind her.

The persona was rather big and it had a very similar appearance to Minato's. It had a golden lyre that was shaped as a heart and orange hair. The yellow body of the creature shine a brilliant gold. The persona attacked the minor shadows and they abruptly turned to dust.

Finally, the dark hour ended. The entrance of Mitsuru, Akihiko and the chairman made the the redhead relieved and annoyed at the same time.

"Where were you guys? We were about to get killed! Without Minato, we probably wouldn't be here."

"We apologize. Akihiko and Mitsuru were about to go and assist you but I wanted to see if you two could produce a persona." The chairman said with no regret.

"So we're just guinea pigs to you? You're a terrible person." She spat.

She turned to face Mitsuru and Akihiko. "What's the nearest hospital?"

"There's only one hospital that we can take Arisato, Tatsumi Memorial Hospital." The redhead said.

It turned out to be a short walk from the station. In a half hour, Minato was admitted there and was sleeping soundly. The doctors said it was normal for persona users to have conditions but this was the most severe.

* * *

"Rghhh…." Minato's headache slowly started fading. He found himself back in the Velvet Room. He sat down in the chair to face Igor and Elizabeth.

"It's so nice to see you again. You became unconscious after awakening to your "power." It's nothing to worry about, though. So, just relax. By the way, I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling. That power is called a Persona. It is a manifestation of your psyche."

"I see."

"It may take some time to fully comprehend. A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli. You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships. That being said, your power is still weak" Igor continued on.

"How can I get stronger?"

"When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links-your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please remember that. Now, then... Time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord. Until then. Farewell." Igor finished.

"One last thing, who's Theodore? Hamuko mentioned him and she thinks that he crossdresses and calls himself Elizabeth when I'm here."

Elizabeth laughed and answered his question.

"He is my younger brother. As far as I know, he does not dress as me but he is envious of how pretty I am. So I would not be surprised to see him wear my uniform. He would come out but I'm afraid each guest can only have one assistant."

"I understand, goodbye for now." Minato said, turning around.

He left through the door and found himself turning into light, again.

" _I'm never gonna get used to this sensation."_

* * *

Hamuko was waiting for Minato to wake up for six days. She barely ate and only left his side when Mitsuru-senpai dragged her to school. Akihiko was also in the hospital recovering from his injuries and Yukari came almost all the days she could.

It was 6 P.M and the redhead was about to fall asleep. Her eyes felt heavy but she held onto her evoker. She still couldn't believe how the chairman could do that to them but when a contract to join them was given to her, she signed.

Protecting innocent people was much important than her own emotions. She snapped out of her thoughts when two silver-blue eyes opened.

The first thing he saw was Hamuko looking exasperated. She was sitting in a chair right next to him but she was missing something, her smile. "Where am I?" He asked staring at her.

"Minato! You're finally awake!" she said while hugging the poor teen.

"You're..killing...meee" He managed to get out. She let go, reluctantly.

"You're at the hospital. You fainted after summoning your persona. The upside is that you killed the shadow and missed school." She said with a grin. In Minato's eyes, it was beautiful after not seeing anything but gore.

"So, can we go home now?" He asked. His muscles still felt sore as he attempted to stand but failed to get up from his bed.

"No way. You're still too tired. If it makes you feel better, we can listen to some music."

"You brought my headphones?"

She reached into her handbag which was located on the bottom of his hospital bed and pulled out her crimson red headphones.

"Sorry, I haven't been to the dorm in a while. But, I think we have a similar taste in music."

Picking up her phone, the redhead quickly selected a song and put her headphones on his ears.

"Wow, you have Burn My Dread too?" He asked

"Yup, it's my favorite. I have to go now and let Mitsuru-senpai know you're awake. Hold onto my stuff for a bit, don't lose it or else I'll spread gossip about you and Akihiko! Actually, I already did that."

Her mischievous grin made Minato shiver. Yup, this was the revenge she was talking about.

"You're kidding right?" She started to walk away. "Hamuko?" She opened the door and left, leading the bluenet to theorize what she said, to no avail.

About five minutes of him listening to music, he stopped and put the headphones around his neck. Wanting to stand up, he moved to the edge of his bed.

He attempted to stand but the immense pressure on his legs forced him to sit back down. Again and again and again he tried until finally, he stood.

His body felt shaky, and he had to lean on the walls to steady himself. The hallways were empty as he made his way to the front desk and signed out. As he made his way to the doors, he saw Yukari walking in with a concerned expression, which turned to shock as she caught sight of him.

"You're awake!" She cried, flinching as she realized how loud she was being. She was quieter as she continued, "Everyone was so worried about you! You were out for a whole week… How much sleep can you possibly need?" The words sounded like a joke, but the concerned expression remained.

Minato was a little confused at how upset she was but did his best to lighten the mood. "I always was a heavy sleeper."

Yukari smiled a little at his response. "I felt really bad…" she admitted with a sigh. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. I was supposed to be the one protecting you. Instead, you got hurt making up for my mistakes…"

Minato's discomfort grew as Yukari persisted with the subject. "What was the monster called again? You said shadows, if I'm not mistaken." He asked, hoping to change it.

"Yeah, that's what we call them... and the power you used is called Persona. We'll explain everything later. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before I-" She stopped and looked away.

She just wasn't going to let it go. He heaved a weary sigh as he relented. "Is something wrong?"

Yukari looked a little nervous. "Your parents… they both died in an accident a long time ago, right?" Minato nodded quietly, and she continued with a frown. "I wanted you to know… I'm kind of in the same boat. My dad died in an accident back in '99. He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo group." She stared at the floor as she remembered the news that had shattered her family.

"There was a big explosion. They say he died in the blast. I'm not sure if that's the case, but he's gone either way, and it's very nearly taken my mom from me too with how badly she's handled it." She looked back up at him with sadness in her eyes. "The lab was around here. That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan, why I signed up to fight the shadows…I'm trying to find out exactly what happened." Minato saw her eyes starting to glisten as her voice wavered a little. "Still, when it came time for me to actually do something, I froze up. How useless am I?" She finished with a dejected expression.

Minato frowned deeply. She'd clearly been sitting on this for a while. "You're not useless." He wasn't entirely sure to do, but the moment was passing quickly. He went with his first instinct and put his hand on her shoulder.

"You couldn't pull the trigger because you're scared of dying, right?" She nodded hesitantly.

"I'm messed up. I don't care about dying because I don't have a reason to live. Killing myself and dying are the same thing to me. When I pulled the trigger, I laughed. A little bit of me hoped that it was a real gun." When he stated what really happened, she looked visibly distraught.

He gave her a cynical smirk. "It's hard for you because you still have something to live for. That's not a bad thing. Now you just need to remember what you're fighting for, and decide if you're willing to risk death for it." She nodded again, this time a little more thoughtfully. "You're a smart girl. You'll figure it out."

She blushed a little and looked away. "Thanks… and please just remember, Minato… You're not alone in this."

Pulling apart from him, she said her goodbyes and left. Minato's brow furrowed as he considered her parting words. "Is this what Igor meant by social links?" He thought to himself. He shrugged, and went to the train station to go back to his dorm.

The train rides were boring without anyone there. He leaned against his seat, looking out the window. It was starting to drizzle and he didn't have an umbrella. A vibration interrupted his thoughts. It was Hamuko's phone but he wouldn't intrude on her conversations.

He vacated out of the train and trudged through the mushy ground.

"Well well well, if it isn't the pretty boy." said a voice from behind him. The bluenet looked up and saw a thug like teenager. It was the same one he ran into the day he came here.

"What you want to try to rob me or something?" He asked sarcastically.

The thug replied "Of course! Those Gekkoukan High kids always have lots of money. Their parents wouldn't mind coughing up a few grand to see their precious kids. I'm sure your mommy and daddy would just cry if I held this knife to your throat." He brandished a switchblade from his pockets.

Minato just rolled his eyes and shrugged. Even when he pulled out his weapon, he didn't have a worry. "You think I'm scared of you? You're pretty pathetic."

The thug looked angry and charged at him with the knife. Minato sidestepped and grabbed his arm.

POP! He pulled forward and dislocated the thug's arm while the injured teenager grabbed it in agony. "What the fuck! Jesus christ, how the hell does an emo prick do that?" He rolled on the ground in pain.

"Well, an emo prick is still better than a no life loser." The persona-user said with a kick in the chest to the thug. He started walking away, with his hands in pocket. Minato still didn't care whatsoever.

* * *

Hamuko rushed back to the Iwatodai dorm. On arrival, Mitsuru was in her room so the rednet had knocked on her door.

"It's Hamuko. Minato finally woke up and he should be here tomorrow. But knowing him, he might try to come earlier."

"I see. Would you mind telling him to come to the fourth floor when you see Arisato? I advise you to rest, seeing as that you've been by his side for the majority of his coma."

"Okay, I'll see to it."

"Another matter I'd like to address is your room. It'll be on the third floor since we finally cleared out all the rooms for the girls' floor. You need to move all your possessions there by the end of the night. Takeba put up a mini dry-erase board on the door with your name."

"Oh, okay." She replied. Taking all of her stuff and moving it there wouldn't be a problem but it was fun being across from Minato. Studying was a lot easier when he was around. She stepped into her room which was a little dusty.

Not having too many things, it only took her an hour to bring everything upstairs. Her new room was the same as the old one but she made it a lot neater. Piling her clothes neatly in the drawers, school text books on the desk and even made her bed.

A matter of minutes later, the rednett was watching T.V. The weather channel mentioned something about a tremendous thunderstorm approaching.

But, her main focus was on the Phoenix Ranger Featherman R show.

It was pretty childish but a great way to pass some time. The television was immediately turned off when a door opened behind her.

`It was Minato, who was doused with water. There was a container in his hands that was carrying something and was completely dry. "I'm back, are there any towels?"

She threw him a roll that was on the counter. He caught it easily and put the object in his hand down.

"Thanks. So, how are you?" He asked, rubbing the moisture out of his. His bangs became neatly sided towards the right and finally looked like a normal teenager.

Eventually, he got his whole body dry and sat down on the couch next to her. She was staring at him for some reason.

"Are you alright Hamuko?" He asked.

"Huh, oh yeah I'm fine! Um, it's just, I've never seen you with your hair like that. It looks kinda nice." She said a bit flustered.

"I used to keep it like this. Back at Yasogami, girls always stared at me so I made it covering my eye. Enough about me, you still didn't answer my question."

Her composure was regained and she replied. "I'm great now that you're up. Mitsuru-senpai made me move upstairs with her and Yukari. So you can't sneak into my room and do anything naughty." The wink added onto her response as Minato just smiled.

"I'm glad you're still the same. Is there any food? That hospital food was terrible."

The rednet laughed and said "Yeah, feeding it to you was easy since you were knocked out. Good thing you weren't awake to see what it was. I'll make you something special since it's your first day back here."

"Thanks." He replied.

Thanks to Mitsuru, they had high-quality meats and spices. Unfortunately, Hamuko had never seen them before and needed to find out what they were.

"Hey Minato, you still have my phone right? I kinda need it."

"Yeah, here you go. Thanks for letting me use it. The train ride was really boring without 'the most gorgeous girl in the world'." he said the last part sarcastically. He pulled out her phone and headphones from the bag and handed them to her.

"You bought a whole case to make sure they wouldn't get damaged?" She asked surprised at how nice it was.

"Of course. If they got messed up, I wouldn't hear the end of it."

"Mhmm. Anyways, how does sushi sound?" He shrugged.

"Never had it before. But, I'm sure anything you make is delicious." She blushed when the bluenet said that.

After they ate and talked about that happened at school, the two went to bed. It had been a crazy week.

* * *

The next day started off normal with Minato going to school. He ran into Akihiko who just came back from the boxing club's practice.

"Ahh, you must be Minato. There are some very odd rumors about us. I think we should stay away from each other. Mitsuru said to come to the fourth floor when you get home." he said and runoff. On his tail, were fangirls who were all swooning his name.

He finally walked into Mr. Ono's class and he was actually teaching what the curriculum wanted him to show.

"So, the Stone Age can be summarized as mankind's struggle against the mammoths. Aaaaand that's enough about the Stone Age. I'm sick of it. I'd rather talk about the Sengoku era! Japanese history's not that exciting until then. Though I'm paid to do this, so I've gotta. It's tough being an adult."

"Okay, can anyone answer a question about the Stone Age?" The samurai wannabe scanned the room and his eyes lit up when he saw Junpei sleeping.

"Hmm... Junpei, how about you? The Stone Age is divided into the Paleolithic and the Neolithic eras. What's the difference between them?"

"Why's it always me? Minato, help me out!" The goateed boy whispered.

"How the tools were made." The bluenet said back.

"How the tools were made!" Junpei exclaimed.

"Correct. Paleolithic tools were chipped stone, while Neolithic tools were ground stone. Though either way, they used stone tools. Ugh! I wanna get to the age of katanas. Everything else is so dull." With that, the teacher went back to lecturing about other related things.

"Thanks, Minato. You're a life savior." The bluenet just shrugged.

Then, an idea popped into the head of Hamuko, who still sat right next to Minato. Yukari was behind the group of three, but rarely lifted her head from her books. School finally ended after what it seemed to be an eternity of boredom.

Hamuko approached Minato who was was packing up his things.

"Hey, we still haven't visited the mall yet. You wanna go today?"

"Akihiko said I have to go to the fourth floor when I get home."

"Oooh! I need to go there too. Maybe I can take pictures of you two doing whatever Akihiko wanted to do. After, that I'll sell it to his fangirls!" The boy remembered how close they tried to get to the boxing captain and was visibly distraught.

"If I go to the mall with you, will you stop those jokes?"

"Eh, only for about a day."

"Better than nothing, I suppose. Let's go."

Paulownia mall was a lot bigger than the two could ever imagine. It had cafes, a police station, and an arcade. The clothing stores were also there and Minato was dragged to the H&M.

After about an hour, Hamuko picked 20 outfits but she only brought one to checkout. "Hey, how come you aren't getting all the other outfits?" Minato asked.

"I can't afford all of these. My aunt doesn't send me that much yen." She said somberly.

"Get whatever you want, I'll pay."

"You sure? You don't have to, I was just browsing, honestly…"

Minato nodded vigorously. "I'm sure. I'll foot the bill. As long as it's not over 50,000 yen…"

Hamuko looked incredulous. "50,000 yen? You're joking, right? Where would you even get that kind of money?"

He grinned at her. "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

She rolled her eyes before running back towards the clothing racks. She returned a few minutes later with two more outfits in hand. Minato was still smiling. "So modest! That can't be more than 30,000."

Hamuko sighed a little as she moved towards the register again. "Believe it or not, but I don't really like taking money from other people…"

Minato laughed a little as he went to pay for her, and they stepped outside with Hamuko's new clothes in a bag hanging from her shoulder. "I bet those outfits will look cute on you."

Her cheeks were a little red as she looked at him. They headed across the mall, towards the exit. "Thanks… for the clothes, and the complement." She offered him a smile, though she couldn't help but feel like she was being teased.

He winked at her. "It's worth it to see you blush." At that, she smacked his side with the bag, making him chuckle again.

As they made their way out into center of the mall, the flash of blue caught Minato's attention. His eyes followed it to a hallway near a staircase leading up to another store. "Hey… Do you see that?" He said, nudging Hamuko to get her attention.

She galnced at a blue door with a gold insignia covering the front. "That kinda looks like the velvet room door."

"Yeah, you want to go in?" He asked hesitantly. Igor mentioned that they would find their own way to the velvet room when 'the time was right'.

"No, I don't want to see that long nose again for a while. It still keeps me up at night." She said shivering.

"I agree. We should head home, I think Mitsuru-senpai is gonna yell at us, she might've warned me that I'll be executed if I don't come straight home."

"Yukari mentioned something about executions. I wonder how bad they are. I guess you'll find out!"

 **AN: I'm back! Two chapters in a week, hope you enjoyed! Leave a review or whatevs. Thanks to a fellow author, (I'm guessing they don't want me to say their name) they helped a lot with this chapter. They also write Persona fanfiction and you might've read one of their stories. Enough about me, expect another chapter by next week. Bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Minato and Hamuko arrived at the Iwatodai dorm to find the chairman, Mitsuru, Akihiko and Yukari all on the fourth floor.

"Arisato, I specifically told you to be here as soon as the school ended. What took you so long?" The Kijiro heir asked.

"Hamuko and I went shopping." He said, taking a seat. The redhead looked aggravated and was about to yell but she bit her lip to stop herself.

"Just don't be late to these meetings," Akihiko said and then yelped when Mitsuru bit his hand.

"So, why am I here?" The bluenet questioned.

"The reason I asked you here is because I needed to talk to you. Okay, let me start off by asking you this. Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?"

"Yes. I've already known about it for a while."

"Do you remember the night you came here? You had to have noticed the signs, the streetlights went out. Nothing was working and there were coffins everywhere. It felt like you were in a different time. That's the Dark Hour-a time period hidden between one day and the next."

"So, we kill shadows in that time frame using our personas. You mentioned when I came here that I was supposed to be here and that was because I might be able to use a persona. I'm guessing that the fake-gun that Yukari has lets you summon your persona. Am I correct?" Everyone was astonished besides Mitsuru.

" _Not that surprised from the next-in-line to the Shirogane family." She thought to herself._

"You also want me to join your group. I noticed that this dorm was only for people like us. S.E.E.S is what it's called if I'm not mistaken." Minato remarked.

Mitsuru agreed and pulled out an arm brand, flaunting the design. It was white and had the logo in all black. Simplistic, but elegant was how everyone saw it.

"I'll join." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Under certain conditions." Mitsuru's face hardened as she met his gaze,

"I'll work out the specifics with Mitsuru and the Chairman later. Is there anything else that I should know?"

"Yes, shadows feeds on the mind of its prey; the victim becomes a living corpse. They're responsible for most of the incidents on the news, if not all of them." The redhead said.

"They're also responsible for the apathy syndrome cases if I'm not mistaken." The bluenet deduced.

"Yes, we think so." The chairman added in. Mitsuru pulls out a briefcase and opens it up. Inside, a gun that looked identical to Yukari's was visible. Besides the color swap, it had a belt strap right next to it.

"This is your evoker. What you stated was indeed correct, these guns let us summon our personas. Now, any other questions?"

"No, I think I'm fine. So is the meeting over?"

"Yes, Thank you so much. I'm really glad. Oh, I almost forgot! About your room assignment, why don't you just stay there, in your current room? I don't know what the holdup is, but I guess it worked out in the end." The chairman said with a chuckle.

A glass shattering noise made it's way to Minato's head.

" _Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana."_ After the noise, a card depicting a bandit and a dog appeared in his mind. It had the number zero at the bottom of the card.

Somehow, the whole world was frozen as the bluenet saw it take place. While everyone was going downstairs, he tapped Hamuko's shoulder.

"Igor mentioned social links to you too right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I already created the Fool Arcana when I joined. You just experienced it?"

"Yes, we get stronger with every social link. Wait, do we have a social link?"

"We'll have to ask the big-nosed man. Does that mean when we date people we get stronger?"

"I'm not exactly in a rush to be a gigolo. Besides, the last thing I need at school are girls yelling at me because I broke their hearts or something." Hamuko burst out laughing at the last part of his sentence.

"Or boys yelling at you. By the way, I'm going to work to Chagall Cafe. I need a part time job and waitressing sounds easy enough."

Minato barely held his smirk, he knew that the employees had to dress in maid and butler outfits. "Oh good luck. I might be there to try their Pheromone coffee, so I guess I'll see you there."

"I hear that coffee makes you overly charming and oozing with confidence. You sure you aren't pumped up to that constantly?"

"Aww, poor Hamuko thinks I'm her prince charming. Did I already sweep you off your feet like the beautiful princess you are?" He said while picking her up princess style.

"Let me down!" She yelped.

"Okay, but you asked for it." He dropped her on the floor before running down the stairs.

She tried to chase after him, but Mitsuru stopped her and said that you can't go to the other genders dorm later than 6 o'clock.

"If I seem him at the cafe, I'll put something weird in his coffee." Her malevolent laugh could be heard throughout the whole dorm.

* * *

Several hours later, the Dark Hour struck. Minato was still awake, he only decided to sleep after the dark hour passed. If shadows only attacked during that time period, he needed to be ready at a moment's notice. The other wild card user was asleep in her room though.

Currently, the bluenet was doing push-ups until he was interrupted by the boy that he met from his first day there.

"Hi, how are you?" The boy said. He was sitting on the edge of Minato's bed.

"I'm fine, should I get Hamuko too?"

"Yes, it would be easier if both of you were in the same room." The wild card user texted her.

 _Hamuko Yuki_

 **Hey, come down to the lobby. Emergency.**

 _Are you okay?! I'll be there! Stay safe!_

The girl rushed downstairs and saw Minato casually sitting down and drinking coffee.

"Where are the shadows?" She asked with Naginata in hand.

 _ **SMASH!**_ It wasn't the best option to swing it around when she knocked a lamp down.

"No shadows. The kid wanted to talk to us so I asked you to come downstairs." He pointed to the child who waved

"What! Did you call me down for this? I was seriously worried that you were hurt." She sat down on the sofa next to him with an irritated expression. Her pout was so heartbreaking, Minato actually felt bad about what he did

" _Okay, I shouldn't worry her like that."_ Minato thought in his head. He tried to stroke her hair but she still looked hurt

"If I take you to the movies next week, will you stop being mad at me?" Her expression became chipper as she crushed him in an embrace.

"I knew you'd cave in! So what does he want." The boy chuckled at the two.

"Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

"The end?" The two teens said simultaneously

"The end of everything. But to be honest, I don't really know what it is. Oh, looks like you've awakened to your power and an unusual power it is. A power that takes many forms yet is bound by none. It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up." The boy explained.

"Do you remember when we first met? I expect you to honor your commitment. I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me... Okay then, see you later." The boy disappeared.

"Well, that was ominous," Minato said out loud.

"Mhmm, wonder what he's talking about. Anyways, I really don't think we should be down here any longer. If they see that both of us aren't in our rooms…."

"The cameras are gone." His face brushed up against her hair. "We can do whatever we want." She shivered and smacked him with all the force she could muster.

"Oww. Fine, I guess I deserve it. Good night Hamuko." He said before heading to the boys' dorm. She went back to her room, with a smirk on her face. There was a hand mark on the bluenette's face.

* * *

The next day was normal, besides people asking what happened to Minato. Junpei had been very excited for some reason much to the annoyance of the bluenet. Hamuko went straight to the cafe after school and told him to text her if anything happened.

The wild card decided that he should walk home with Yukari.

"Y-You might have forgotten about it already, but at the hospital... I said some stupid things. It's been bothering me for a while. It's hard not having a regular family, ya know?" He nodded yes at her question.

"Everyone else has a mom and a dad. Why do we have to be different? Why us?" He didn't answer her questions. He knew that talking wouldn't help because she needed someone to rant to.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to lump the two of us together. but I feel like you understand, and have been looking out for me, Minato-kun."

"At least, that's what I thought. Haha. Is that just wishful thinking? Oh we're already at the dorm. See you later." Her fake smile was visible to him. She went into the dorm and straight to her room.

 **SMASH! "Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a  
Persona of the Lovers Arcana." A picture of a large heart over a man and woman was on the card.**

" _Cool, another social link."_ He thought as he went inside. Akihiko was waiting inside, looking eager as always.

"Hey, you guys are home! There's someone I want to introduce. He should be here by now." The boxing captain stuck his head out the door. "Hurry up!" The ash-haired student yelled outside.

"Hold your horses. This is freakin' heavy!" said an all too familiar voice. Minato groaned and looked at Yukari's confused face. "Well, Yuka-tan, it's been nice knowing you."

"Huh, why are you calling me that? Only Junpei uses that dumb nickname. Which I hate by the way. I can't believe…" Her jaw dropped when she saw the aforementioned capped teen walk in.

" J-Junpei!? ...Why is HE here!? Wait, don't tell me-"

"This is Junpei Iori from Class 2-F. He'll be staying here as of today." Yukari's face became as white as a sheet of paper.

The baseball cap wearing teen chuckled. "Wazzup Yuka-tan and Minato?"

"I'm good Junpei. I don't know about Yukari though." He looked to the girl who was a whole mix of emotions. The clear ones were anger and confusion judging by the brunette grabbing her hair in frustration.

"He's staying HERE!? You've gotta be kidding me!"

"I bumped into him the other night. He has the potential, but he just awakened to it recently. I told him about us, and he agreed to help."

"You have the potential!? For real!?" The brunette said in disbelief.

"He found me cryin' like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins. I don't remember much, but... man, that's embarrassing! He said that's, ya know, completely normal... in the beginning. Like, bein' confused and not remembering anything. Did ya guys know that?"

"I got knocked out for a week so count yourself lucky." The bluenet said.

"Oh so that's why you were out that whole week. I just heard rumors about you and Akihiko doing _things_." He said awkwardly. The two teenagers groaned in annoyance. Akihiko because it made his fan girls be even more annoying and Minato had similar reasons.

"But man, I was shocked to find out about you guys. I had no idea. I'm glad I'm not the only one. It could get kinda lonely, ya know. I bet you're stoked too, right!? Havin' me join."

"Huh? Uh, y-yeah." The girl lied.

" _She really needs to work on keeping her cool."_ The detective thought in his head. Catching lies was essential for any detective, especially ones in the Shirogane family. That reminded him that he still had to teach Naoto about it.

" _Wait, I still haven't called her since I arrived at the dorm."_ He realized. _"I might be able to visit her and grandfather over the weekend."_

"Well, enough with the introductions. I think we're about ready." Akihiko announced.

"Ooh, we're gonna go do something? Sweetness!" Junpei said as he fist bumped the air.

"With this many people, we can start exploring that place." The boxing captain said.

"You mean... Tartarus?" Yukari chimed in.

"Tartarus...? What's that? ...Sounds like toothpaste." Junpei said, scratching his cap in confusion.

"We believe we can find the reason for the Dark Hour there."

"I hope so." Yukari said, but it was faint so that only two of the three boys heard.

"The chairman will give us additional details tomorrow." With that, everyone went to their respective rooms. Junpei was settling into his room and Akihiko was helping him with the boxes. Yukari mentioned having to study for tests coming up and Minato decided to tell Hamuko what was happening.

 _Hamuko Yuki_

 **Turns out we have a new person**

 **in the dorm and they have potential**

 _Oh cool who is it_

 **Junpei Iori, he's in our homeroom**

 _HAHAHAHA omg how did_

 _yukari react_

 **She was in disbelief**

 **and frustrated.**

 _Cant wait til i go back to the dorm._

 _Anyways, you can come to the cafe._

 **I'll be there around 7**

 _Im guessing you want the pheromone coffee thingy?_

 **Yeah, I would love some.**

 **You should have some with me.**

 _maybe but if you even try to touch my skirt…._

 **Point taken by the handmark.**

 **I'll refrain from being myself.**

 _Finally_

 **Oh please, you love the attention.**

 _You know, I have butterfingers. I_

 _Might spill coffee on you._

Satisfied with her response, Hamuko put her phone down. Getting the job was fairly simple and all she really had to do was serve coffee and french delights.

Her eyes met a family of three who were waiting for a person. The little girl seemed angry at her two parents. The little girl reminded Hamuko of herself when she was younger, the ponytail was a similarity they share. She wore a rainbow shirt and a jean jacket over it. She also had a school book bag on

"Mommy! Daddy! I want the coffee! Why can't I have it? It's my birthday and you said anything I want." The little girl yelled. She started pulling on the table and screaming.

"Maiko, we thought you wanted food, not coffee. You're too young for that, why don't you have a healthy muffin." Her mother pleaded but the little girl was set on her point.

"No, I want it! I want it!"

The teenage waitress had an idea, she would put fake coffee in the mug and the little girl would be happy. and wrote out a note _Don't worry, it's coca-cola in a mug. Totally safe._

"You want the Pheromone coffee?" Hamuko asked. The girl nodded eagerly, "Yes! Thank you ma'am!"

"Okay, I'll go get you one right away." She slid the note to her parents and they were relieved. "Thank you miss." The father said.

Hamuko got the soda for the girl and it seemed that Maiko was pleased. The little girl left bouncing off the walls while her parents followed suite. Her parents left 1000 yen even though it cost 300. The first day of her part time job went well. She changed out of her work uniform into her school uniform and got a cup of coffee.

" _I still can't believe Junpei is at our dorm. Yukari is probably trying to convince Mitsuru to get rid of him."_ She thought in her head.

" _That Maiko girl was just like me. I remember growing up with my parents…_

" _Dad would pick me up from school and we would have to eat without her." Her eyes felt a little wet._

" _How mom was always str." A tear fell._

" _The way how I always clinged onto them and got mad for the silliest things." More and more tears started coming._

 _She couldn't stop herself. Acting happy and never thinking of her parents caused the break in her mind. Her thoughts induced a flashback._

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

A six year old girl was eating lunch. Her hair was very short and barely touched her neck as she attempted to dig into her instant meal.

"Daddy, can we go see mommy! She doesn't eat with us anymore. Does she even love us?"

"Of course your mother loves you. We'll surprise her at work, okay?" Her father said. She climbed on top of his neck as he got into the car and eventually sat in the backseat.

They arrived to see the girl's mother still at work, a lot of paper was surrounding her. "Mommy!" The girl embraced her mother in a hug. The mother had bags under her eyes but looked happy.

"Aww, I missed you Hamuko. I wish the Kijiro group didn't give me all this paperwork. Then I could spend more time with you."

" It's no fun with only me and daddy. Can we go eat food together?"

"Sure, there's a good store around here but we have to cross a bridge. Can you cross a bridge Hamuko?"

"Yay! I get to see a bridge!" The girl said victoriously.

* * *

 **Present**

A few more tears surfaced on her face but she wiped them off on the white collar of her shirt. The Pheromone coffee was still in front of her and there was a sudden dry feeling in her throat so she took a sip of it. It left a lipstick stain on it but she disregarded it. D

 **Chime!** She looked up to see that Minato had finally arrived. He still had a cocky smile on his face but it quickly turned to a frown when he saw her.

The detective easily saw through her masquerade and sat next to her on the booth. He didn't know if she was actually sad so he tried his usual flirtatious attempts with her.

"You're so cute when you think you're fooling me." He said. Once he got a closer look at her, he saw stains on her collar. The rough rub around her eyes indicated that she was wiping them off. His statement went over her head as she just stared at the table.

"Painful memories, am I correct?" Her head slowly nodded a yes.

"I've had similar thoughts about how I feel without my parents but that's in the past. I can't change it no matter what, but what I can do is move on. I'm not gonna give you a rant but if you have any problems, tell them to me. We've had very similar pasts." She slowly started feeling better.

Her lips curled into a smile. "Thank you, Minato."

"No problem. Thanks for the coffee by the way."

"Wait noooooo! I drank out of tha-" Her pleas went disregarded as the bluenet had already taken a drink out of it.

"Huh, it tastes weird." He said putting the coffee down.

"That's because you drank my lipstick with it." She said with a chuckle. He immediately _"Wait, that would give everyone at the dorm the wrong idea!"_ She realized in her head.

 _ **AN: Here's another chapter! Hope you like it.**_


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